1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a screen definition device for an operating panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a programmable controller (hereinafter referred to as the PLC) has been widely used as a controller that controls equipment. The PLC is connected to a device such as an electromagnetic valve or an actuator, and an operating panel including a display. In the display of the operating panel, there is displayed a screen of a control panel, which is constituted by elements including lamps indicating an operating state of the controller and buttons for operating the controller. When a transparent touch panel disposed to overlap with the screen is touched, an operation corresponding to the screen can be performed.
The screen is displayed in accordance with screen data stored in a storage device in the operating panel, and figures showing the lamps, the buttons and the like are displayed via the screen data, to simulate the control panel. The screen is constituted by a plurality of screen parts, and one of the screen parts can be switched to the other screen corresponding to the operation by a screen switching button. The screen data includes elements such as the lamps and the like whose display states change in accordance with data from the PLC, and elements such as the buttons and the like that provide commands to the PLC in response to operations of the buttons and the like. In each of these elements, a name, a color, a PLC address and the like are defined as parameters. In addition, in the screen switching button, link information, which is information on link to switching destination screen data, is defined.
To create the screen data, a shape, a size, a color and the like of each of elements such as the lamps and the buttons to be displayed on the screen are defined, and figures showing the elements are drawn by using drawing software that is generally operated on a personal computer, and then a correspondence between each figure and the address of the PLC is defined. When the screen is defined by the drawing software, the degree of freedom is high in drawing, setting and the like, and various screens can be created. However, it is known that much time is required for mastering a drawing operation, an operation for setting the parameters for the elements, and the like. Thus, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-292942 (JP 9-292942 A) describes a screen definition device for an operating panel, which includes a screen on which predetermined sections are set, and a screen definition table showing elements to be disposed in the respective sections in a table form. In the screen definition device, parameters for the elements are set in the table form. Therefore, the screen definition can be easily performed without mastering the operation for screen definition by using the drawing software.
The equipment is renovated or changed depending on situations, and a change of the screen of the operating panel may be required to cope with the renovation or the change of the equipment. However, in the above-mentioned screen definition device, it is possible to define a screen having a section configuration commonly used in the operating panel, that is, a standard screen constituted by a so-called model screen, but it is not possible to newly add, for example, definition of a screen for exclusive use in equipment, which is designed by an equipment user.
This is because the section configuration of the screen for exclusive use in the equipment (hereinafter referred to as the user screen) is different from the section configuration of the standard screen, and hence the same screen definition table as that for the standard screen cannot be applied. Another method is conceivable in which a model screen and a screen definition table are prepared for each of the standard screen and the user screen to separately define the screens, but in this method, information cannot be shared between the standard screen and the user screen, and hence an operation common to all the screens, for example, a screen switching operation cannot be set.
Thus, the user screen is defined by using the drawing software, and the user screen is combined with the standard screen by the screen definition device, but much time is required for mastering the operation for screen definition by using the drawing software. Therefore, a screen definition device for an operating panel has been demanded, in which the user screen is also easily defined in the table form, and the user screen can be added to the standard screen.